Pipe molding machine



y 1941- c. A. WALLACE PIPE MOLDING MACHINE Filed March 31, 1938 2 SheetsSheet 1 y 0, 1941. c. A. WALLACE 2,242,690

PIPE MOLDING MACHINE Filed March 31, 1938 a. 2 Sheets-Shee t 2 5. 17. Mil/lace" i JWHIYXIH 37W J l 1 Patented May 29, 1941 oar-rec ems earner arisen 1 price PIPE MOLDDTG MACHINE Charles Augmtus Wallace, Columbia, S 0. Application March 31, 1938, Serial No. 199,238

is Claims.

steel are frictionally secured in a vertically re- I ciprocating sliding head, actuated to reciprocate the tamping bars about four hundred times a minute. As dry concrete is placed in the pipe molds, which revolve under these tamping bars, the reciprocating head is set in operation and strikes about four hundred blows a minute on the concrete fed into the mold beneath said bars. As the concrete is added to the mold, the tamping bars rise up through their friction clutch members, the friction of which is adjusted to deter mine the force of the blows struck on the concrete by the tempers.

As the tamping bars rise through their clutch devices, it frequently becomes necessary to adjust the friction which holds these bars in place on the cross head. In the old machines, this adjustment is effected by means of a screw impinging against a plate provided with a friction surface usually in the form of a strip of leather. Due to the rapidity with which the cross .head reciprocates, it is practically impossible for an operator to regulate this friction manually. Therefore, it is usually necessary for the operator to stop the tamping machines during this process of adjusting the friction-regulating screws.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a tamping machine of the, general character referred to, with means whereby the frictional engagement of the clutch members with the tamping bars, can be regulated or adjusted whenever desired without the necessity of stopping the machine for this purpose.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the detailed description thereof proceeds.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of the tamping parts of a machine for manufacturing concrete pipes and the like;

Figure 2 is a top pian View of the machine shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical section, to an enlarged scale, taken on the line 3-3 of Figure l; and

Figure 4 is a horizontal section, taken on the line 44 of Figure 1.

Asv shown in the drawings, theinvention be gins with a tamping head 5, provided with sleeves 6 and I slidable on guide rods 3 and 9 which are suitably fixed, at their opposite ends, to a pair of horizontal brackets Iii and it. These brackets in and ll project from and are secured to the upper and lower cross bars l2 and I3 of a substantially vertical, rectangular bearing frame F having its sides M and I5 bolted, or otherwise fixed, to the horizontal channel irons I6 and ll of the supporting framework of the machine.

Substantially triangular supporting plates is and I9 are suitably secured, respectively, to the channel irons l6 and H, and are held in substantially parallel, vertical planes by spacers and 2|. An intermediate spacer 22 supports a bearing 23 for a horizontal shaft 2 2 which projects at one end through a bearing .25 formed integral with the frame F. A crank disk 25 is secured to the end of the shaft 24 where it projects through its bearing in the frame F, and a flywheel 21 is secured to the-other end of the said shaft. A motor M supported on the upper flange of the channel iron It has its shaft 28 connected by a belt 29, through suitable pulleys on theshafts 24 and128, to impart rotation to the said shaft 24..

The tamping head 5 has a pivot pin it projecting laterally from the rear face thereof to receive the lower end of a pitman 3i, the upper end of which is pivoted on the pivot pin .52 projecting from the face of the crank disk 2% and offset radially with respect to the axis of rotation of said crank disk. It will be'evident from inspection of the drawings that continuous rotation of the shaft 24 will cause the tamping head 5 to reciprocate along its guide rods 8 and 9 which form fixed parts of the framework of the machine. 7

The bracket I'll is provided with a pair of rectangular apertures 33 and 34, and the bracket ll is 'providedwith a pair of rectangular apertures 35 and 36. These two pairs of apertures are axially aligned to form guideways for the tamping rods 31 and 3B. The tamping head 5 is provided with recesses 39 and ll] in which the respective tamping rods 3! and 33 are slidably mounted. The recesses 39 and 53 are expanded toform wider recesses M and 42 receiving the friction strips i3 and 44 respectively.

The strip 43 has its opposite ends secured to angle bars 45 and 46; and these angle bars, with the strip 43 attached thereto, are secured in proper position on the tamping head 5 by means of a plate 4'! which in turn is secured as by machine screws 48, to one side of the tamping head 5. The plate 41 has a cylinder 49 formed thereon and provided, at its opposite open ends, with cylinder heads 50 and 5| through which project the piston rods 52 and 53 secured at their inner ends to pistons 54 and 55, located on opposite sides of a liquid inlet 56.

The outer ends of the piston rods 52 and 53 are pivotally connected by yokes to the outwar'dly extending arms 57 and 58 of eccentrics 59 and 6D, pivoted respectively to pins GI and 62 secured to lugs projecting from the face of the plate 41 on opposite sides of slots 63 and 54 which receive the eccentrics 59 and 68, respectively, and permit pressure to be applied to the strip 43 by rotation of said eccentrics. The outer ends of the said arms 51 and 58 are connected to the opposite ends of a tension spring 55. As will be apparent from inspection of Figure 3 of the drawings, the tension of the spring 65, on the outer ends of the arms 5'! and 58, will rotate the eccentrics 59 and 68 about their pivot pins BI and B2, to decrease the pressure of the friction strip 43 against the adjacent side of the tamping rod 31 and thereby reduce its frictional contact with the bottom wall of the recess 39. It Will also be obvious from inspection of Figure 3 that if liquid under pressure be forced into the cylinder 49 through the inlet aperture 56, it will cause the pistons to move apart and therefore increase the pressure of the eccentrics 59 and 69 on the friction strip 43, and through this increase on the strip 43 will increase the frictional contact between the tamping rod 3! and the tamping head 5, in proportion to the applied pressure.

Substantially the same mechanism is used on the other side of the tamping head to regulate the frictional contact of the tamping rod 38 with i the bottom wall 48 of the recess in the head 5.

The same reference characters primed. are, therefore, used to indicate the corresponding elements for applying pressure to the tamping rod 38.

Master cylinders 66 and B1 are mounted on the triangular Supporting plate 18, the master cylinder 66 being connected by the flexible tube 53 to the cylinder 49, and the master cylinder 5'! being connected by the flexible tubing 69 to the cylinder 49'. These master cylinders are of the automotive brake type, and the pressures transmitted therefrom to their respective cylinders 49 and 49, are developed by rotation of the shafts 78 and H which project through a wall of each of said master cylinders in the usual manner and operate the usual pressure piston therein. To rotate the shaft H1, whenever desired, there is secured to this shaft a lever 12 terminating at one of its ends in a handle 13 located in convenient position for an operator. This lever swings over a quadrant 14 fixed at its opposite ends to brackets and I6 projecting laterally from and suitably secured to the triangular supporting plate I 8. The outer edge of the quadrant 14 is notched to form teeth 11 adapted to be engaged by a pawl 18 which latter is pivoted at one end to a yoke member 19, pivoted in turn, on the lever 12 near the handle end thereof. The pawl 18 is normally maintained in locking engagement with the teeth H by means of a compression spring 89 interposed between the handle 13 and a hand grip 8| integral with the pivoted yoke '19.

To operate the shaft H of the master cylinder 61, a lever 82 is pivoted between its ends to the shaft ID. This lever 82 is mounted to swing over a quadrant 83 similar in every respect to the quadrant l4 and likewise supported by the brackets 15 and I6 which are secured to the triangular supporting plate IB. The outer end of the lever 82 is constructed to form a handle 84 and is also provided with spring actuated pawl mechanism adapted to engage the teeth on the outer edge of the quadrant 83 for the purpose of locking the lever 82 in adjusted position with respect to that quadrant 83.

The lever 82 extends beyond the shaft 10, on which it is pivoted, to form an arm 85, the outer end of which is pivoted to one end of a link 86, the other end of which is pivoted to the outer end of an arm 81 projecting radially from and fixed to the shaft H of a master cylinder 61. The arms 85 and 81 are substantially the same in length, and the distance between the pivot axes connecting the opposite ends of the link 88 to the said arms, is the same as the distance between the axes of the shafts 18 and TI. This linkage construction between the lever 82 and the shaft 'H is designed for the purpose of mounting the levers I2 and 82 in substantially the same convenient position for operation.

It will be evident from inspection of the drawings that the frictional engagement between either of the tamping rods 31 and 38 and the tamping head 5 can be very finely regulated by an operator standing adjacent to the tamping head, and without the necessity of stopping the machine for this purpose. The handles 13 and 84 of the levers 12 and 82, respectively, are located to swing about a common axis and over concentrically mounted locking quadrants, thereby enabling the operator to adjust these control levers without changing his position relative to the tamping head.

The spacers 20 and 2| have cylindrical collars 88 and 89 suitably secured thereto or formed integral therewith. The collar 89 is adapted to seat on the upper end of a standard 90 extending upwardly from a floor or other base support (not shown). The collar 88 is adapted to receive a depending rod, or bar, 9| coaxial with the standard 90. These members 98 and 9| form part of the framework of the machine. present invention is chiefly concerned with the hydraulic mechanism for varying the pressure on the tamping rods while the tamping head and the rods are reciprocating at any speed, high or low speed. I

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the arrangement of parts and the details of construction of the invention may be varied considerably without departure from the spirit of the invention, which is not to be considered as in any way limited except as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim is:

1. In a pipe molding machine, a support, a head mounted to reciprocate vertically on said support, a tamping rod slidable on said head, means for pressing said rod into frictional contact with said head, and mechanism adjustable on said support for operating said means to vary the pressure on said rod.

2. In a pipe molding machine, a support, a head mounted to reciprocate vertically on said support and provided with a vertically extending recess, a

The

tamping rod slidable in said recess, a friction strip secured to said head and extending across said recess, means on said head adjustable to press said friction strip against said tamping rod, and mechanism adjustable on said support and controlling said adjustable means to vary the frictional contact of said strip with said tamping rod.

4. In a pipe molding machine, a support, a head mounted to reciprocate vertically on said support and provided with a recess extending in the vertical direction, a tamping rod slidable in said recess, a friction strip secured to said head and extending across said recess and tamping rod, a cam rotatable on said head and having a surface in contact with said friction strip, cooperating hydraulic mechanism mounted on said support and head for moving said cam to vary the frictional contact of said strip with said tamping rod and means adjustable on said support to control the operation of said mechanism.

5. In a pipe molding machine, a support, a head mounted to reciprocate vertically on said support, a tamping rod slidable on said head, fluid operated mechanism mounted on said head and support for clamping the tamping rod in adjusted position on said head, and means adjustable on said support to operate said mechanism.

6. In a pipe molding machine, a support, a head mounted to reciprocate vertically on said support, a tamping rod slidable on said head, cooperating means on said support and head for pressing said rod into frictional contact with said head, and means mounted on said support to control the operation of said cooperating means.

'7. In a pipe molding machine, a support, a head mounted to reciprocate vertically on said support, a tamping rod slidable on said head, cam mechanism mounted on said head for clamping the tamping rod in adjusted position on said head, hydraulic means mounted on said head and support for operating said mechanism, and a lever pivoted to said support and connected with said means to control the operation thereof.

8. In a pipe molding machine, a support, a head mounted to reciprocate vertically on said support, a tamping rod slidable on said head, cam mechanism mounted on said head for clamping the tamping rod in adjusted position on said head, hydraulic means mounted on said head and support for operating said mechanism, a lever pivoted to said support and connected with said means to control the operation thereof, and means for locking said lever in adjusted position.

9. In a pipe molding machine, a support, a head mounted to reciprocatevertically on said support, a tamping rod slidable on said head, means for clamping said rod frictionally to said head, said means including a cylinder mounted on said head, a piston reciprocable in said cylinder and connected to said clamping means, a master cylinder mounted on said support, flexible tubing connecting said cylinders to each other, and a lever pivoted to said master cylinder and operating the same to transmit pressure therefrom to the first named cylinder, said cylinders being adapted to be filled with liquid for transmitting pressure under the control of said lever.

10. In a pipe molding machine, a support, a head reciprocable vertically on said support and provided with vertically extending recesses, a tamping rod slidable in each recess, friction strips fixed to said head and extending across said recesses and rods, and cooperating hydraulic mech anism on said support and head for clamping said friction strips against said rods.

11. In a pipe molding machine, a support, a head reciprocable vertically on said support and provided with vertically extending recesses, a tamping rod slidable in each recess, friction strips fixed to said head and extending across said recesses and rods, cooperating hydraulic mechanism on said support and head for clamping said friction strips against said rods, and levers pivoted to swing about a common axis on said support and connected to said mechanism to control the operation thereof.

12. In a pipe molding machine, a support, a head reciprocable vertically on said support and provided with vertically extending recesses, a tamping rod slidable in each recess, friction strips fixed to said head and extending across said recesses and rods, cooperating hydraulic mechanism on said support and head for clamping said friction strips against said rods, levers pivoted to swing about a common axis on said support and connected to said mechanism to control the operation thereof, and cooperating means on said levers and support for locking said levers in any desired position of angular adjustment.

13. In a pipe molding machine, a support, a head reciprocable vertically on said support and provided with vertically extending recesses, a tamping rod slidable in each recess, friction strips fixed to said head and extending across said recesses and rods, cooperating hydraulic mechanism on said support and head for clamping said friction strips against said 'rods, levers pivoted to swing about a common axis on said support and connected to said mechanism to control the operation thereof, toothed quadrants fixed to said support with said axis as a common center, and pawls on said levers engageable with the teeth on said quadrants for locking said levers in adjusted positions on their respective quadrants.

CHARLES AUGUSTUS WALLACE. 

